NASCAR drivers: Shorter race won't alter strategy

LONG POND - Drivers on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have long lobbied for races at Pocono Raceway to be shortened.

They got their wish.

For the first time, a Sprint Cup Series race at the 2.5-mile triangular track will not be 500 miles. Sunday's Pocono 400 Presented by #NASCAR will be 160 laps rather than 200.

"It was a good idea to shorten the race up," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "Maybe that will make it a little more exciting, I don't know."

Nobody seems to know. The second-most asked question after those about Pocono's newly repaved surface is how the 100 fewer miles will affect race strategy.

Of the 68 Sprint Cup Series races held at Pocono since 1974, the driver leading after 160 laps wound up taking the checkered flag just 29 times.

A lot has happened during those final 40 laps to determine the eventual winner.

Now, those 40 laps are gone.

"The money laps and the checkered flag will come at you sooner," NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director John Darby said. "You have 100 miles less, so your pit stops have to be better, your car adjustments have to be quicker. You cannot afford to take the time to hang around in the second half of the field while you try to figure your car out because the race will go by that much quicker. It turns up the aggression of the race a little bit."

Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for Joey Logano, likes the fact that the shorter race will save some wear-and-tear on the cars. He echoed what Darby said about the window of opportunity being narrower to get your car right.

"With a longer race, sometimes you can afford to be a little off pace, try something and you'll have time to make it up," Ratcliff said. "With a shorter race, if you lose track position or get off a little bit on your adjustments, the race is too short to get it back.

"But (a 400-mile) race is still plenty long. It's not like it's a 50-lapper. There's still plenty of time for me to mess something up."

Opinions vary as to how the 100 fewer miles will affect the strategy of the race.

Tony Stewart believes it will be the same as in the past.

"You just don't have to wait that extra hour for that exciting conclusion," he said.

Matt Kenseth also feels the strategy won't be any different.

"Track position is going to be really important here, especially with the new pavement," Kenseth said. "You just start thinking about those last couple of (pit) stops earlier because it happens sooner, but I don't think the strategy really changes. You're going to go out there and run hard every lap and try to keep the best position you can the whole race."

Because of the durable tire Goodyear brought to Pocono for the repaved surface, Earnhardt Jr. thinks Sunday's race could be determined by fuel mileage.

"Guys will pit right on the bubble or really push their luck and pit a lap early, hoping for a caution or something to get them inside the (fuel) window," Earnhardt Jr. said. "A couple of guys at the end of the race will probably be coming to the checkered with questions about whether they can actually make it on fuel or not.

"That is just because the tire is so good. You don't need to come in for tires."

Martin Truex Jr. believes the new pavement will be a bigger factor than the 100 fewer miles. Scott Miller, who is filling in as Truex's crew chief this week, agrees.

"Track position is definitely going to trump tires and all that," Miller said. "On the old surface, you had to have new tires to run fast.

Now the dropoff isn't very much here. So the repave is going to dictate the strategy more than 100 miles taken off.

"Even if it was a 500-mile race, you still would play it the same and make the pit call to make the best decision to give yourself the track position at the end. Four-hundred, 500 or 200 (miles), it's all about making the right call to give yourself track position."

One thing everyone can agree on is that a 400-mile race at Pocono is a good thing.

"It's going to create some more excitement and a little bit more action for that little bit shorter race," Greg Biffle said.

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